 | Doesn't work
rating: 1
There were three problems with this item:
1) It rattled. I'm no optics engineer, but I'm fairly certain optics are not suppose to rattle.
2) It doesn't work -- everything is blurry and smeared.
3) There are no instructions or even a description of what it should or shouldn't do, such as rattle.
Other than that it's a lovely black tube. Very black and tuby.
Having read a helpful review here that contains the instructions this item should have come with I will give it another shot. So far it's useless and worthless.
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There are problems with this reducer
rating: 2
I purchased the Celestron NexImage Reducer from Amazon along with the NexImage CCD camera and just received them. The camera is great but there are issues with the reducer. First, it comes with NO instructions of any kind. I spent a few hours researching online to figure out the many caveats for this item's use. Second, I was disappointed with the item's quality. It has a light, plastic feel and the threads are poorly machined. Many people have had issues with cross-threading, but so far I've been lucky. Also, the threads are not standard gauge. The Reducer can only be threaded onto the NexImage camera and nothing else. Third, the lense in the Reducer was held in place by a small metal bezel ring that was loose and allowed the lense to rattle in its seat. I finally tightened it down, which stopped the rattling. Fourth, even when used correctly, this lense reduced the clarity of images. I suspect that the optics are poor or badly aligned.
If there were instructions, they should state the following important points: The reducer needs to be screwed directly into the body of the NexImage camera after removing the short barrel that comes with the NexImage. It should not be screwed onto the end of the NexImage camera barrel. Once attached, the Reducer should not be inserted all the way into your reflector telescope's eyepiece receiver. You should only insert the first 1/2 inch or so, then tighten it in place. If you insert it all the way, you will not be able to achieve focus. The Reducer (and the camera for that matter) cannot be used with eyepieces. The camera is equivalent to a 5mm fixed eyepiece. The reducer is used to enlarge the field of view (i.e. to reduce the magnification). Without the reducer, the moon completely fills the field of view several times over. With the reducer, you see about 1/2 of the moon in your field of view. To get a full disk view of the moon, you'd need to get a different reducer lense. You will not want to use the Reducer lense for planetary imaging, only for lunar, solar or star field imaging. When imaging planets, you do not want to reduce magnification for a wider view. You want to do quite the opposite, so this lense is has limited applications.
All in all, I was a a bit disappointed with this purchase, but for the money ($19) I guess I can't complain too much.
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Useful for lunar imaging
rating: 3
I bought this so that I could get more of the moon into view with the Celestron NexImage camera.
The Bad:
Quality control is pretty poor on this item. The threads aren't very precise or cross-threaded (perhaps the Neximage) so I couldn't tighten down the lense to the bottom of the Neximage. I also see something hanging from the side of one of the internal elements in a manner that partially overlaps the lens element.
The Good:
This thing is dirt cheap at $24.
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